The government will resist any lobbying from national governing bodies to force bookmakers to contribute a portion of their non-racing revenue to sport. As reported here yesterday a coalition of major sports is ramping up pressure on the gambling industry and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport for a share of profits. Government sources said it remains fundamentally opposed to extending the levy idea beyond racing, but the sports minister Richard Caborn would support a voluntary contribution from bookies.

Despite deriving up to 15% of revenue from sports other than racing, members of the Association of British Bookmakers oppose any demand from sport for a donation. The ABB has at no stage agreed to discuss the matter and a seminar to discuss integrity issues with governing bodies this week was cancelled.

The impasse is such that chief executives of leading sports, including football, cricket and tennis, have written to Caborn asking him to lobby the ABB on their behalf. They favour a licensing system requiring bookies to apply for permission to take bets on competitions, and a system of compulsory information sharing allowing authorities to chase suspicious betting patterns.

Overend up for grabs

Roger Draper's search for high-profile recruits to the Lawn Tennis Association - despite the absence of world-class talent - has spread to the communications department, where BBC Five Live's tennis correspondent Jonathan Overend has been identified as the No1 candidate to fill the role as head of media. Negotiations are ongoing but Overend is understood to favour staying at the corporation, where he can continue describing the LTA's multimillion-pound failures rather than have to defend them.

Meanwhile the Aberdeen Cup, a contrived Scotland v England match trading heavily on the participation of Andy Murray and scheduled for the end of the month, has been dropped by Sky after just one year. The broadcaster may show highlights, but says there is no room for live coverage on a busy weekend.

Newell's women problem

Self-proclaimed sexist Mike Newell's outburst against assistant referee Amy Rayner came as no surprise to insiders at Luton Town, where the manager's bigoted views regarding women in football are common knowledge. They are all the more remarkable, however, given that club secretary Cherry Newbery, who has at times almost single-handedly kept the club afloat, is one of the most respected figures in Football League circles.

Early in Newell's tenure the female first-team physio, Julie Frost, resigned, thought to be unhappy at her treatment. Newell's stone-age views are also well known to members of the supporters' club, who took him to task on the issue at an official dinner. Despite being challenged by female season-ticket holders who follow the team home and away, Newell insisted they and all other women have no place in running the game.

Backfiring in Barcelona

An attempt to deflect attention from the row over spiralling Olympic costs with a media-friendly trip to Barcelona today could backfire spectacularly thanks to Ken Livingstone's revelation of the Treasury's demand for a 60% contingency fund. The Olympic Delivery Authority chief executive David Higgins, the culture secretary Tessa Jowell and the London 2012 chairman Seb Coe may regret inviting the media to join them on a "fact-finding" visit to the former host city, a plan hatched last week amid negative headlines about the project. The hacks will be far more interested in probing London's domestic difficulties than covering a glorified guided tour with photo opportunities.

Ben Haim cuts up rough

The controversy over Tal Ben Haim's transfer to Bolton from Maccabi Tel Aviv flared up again in the lobby of the Israeli team hotel ahead of last night's Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia. Ben Haim's father Imunel was involved in a fight with David Abu, an unlicensed agent alleged to have received a cut for his part in negotiating Ben Haim's move to the Reebok. The altercation, hugely embarrassing to the Israeli FA, concluded with Ben Haim Snr telling Abu: "I'm going to fuck you up." The Ben Haim transfer was highlighted by a BBC Panorama investigation, which alleged that Craig Allardyce, son of manager Sam, also received £50,000 from the deal.